Consent for sexual behavior in a college student
population

David S. Hall, Ph.D.

This study looks at the specifics of consent for sexual behavior of
heterosexual college students. It describes the sequence of behaviors during
an encounter where both partners wanted to engage in sexual intercourse
or other intimate sexual behavior, and said yes and meant yes. It also
describes situations wherein individuals used "token resistance", that
is, they said no when they really meant yes. There were no studies found
that examined consent for any sexual behavior except for intercourse in
the context of date/acquaintance rape. Token resistance has been studied
for rates of occurrence, but not for the effects it has on an encounter.
A questionnaire was used to collect the data with assurance of anonymity.
The questionnaire was completed by 264 female and 158 male college students
from an ethnically diverse population in Northern California during 1994.
Results, based on the 192 female and 118 male participants who reported
encounters where they said yes and meant yes, indicate that the participants
were involved in very diverse sequences of behaviors, but they fell into
general patterns for men and women. Consent was given both verbally and/or
nonverbally for each of the behaviors some of the time, but much sexual
activity proceeds without specific permission. More permission was given
nonverbally, and more consent was given by males than females. Participants'
feelings after the encounter became significantly more positive with increasing
experience level with the partner. Permission giving did not significantly
change with experience level. Token resistance happens in relationships
with all levels of experience, and slightly more often by males. It has
the effect of reducing the overall level of sexual activity and having
a less positive feeling after the encounter. There were significant sex
differences in the reasons given for using token resistance.